By AARON SMITH
USBC Communications
RENO, Nev. – The Team USA contingent collected three gold medals and one silver Thursday in trios competition at the 2024 PANAM Bowling Adult, Senior and Super Senior Championships.
The group’s medal count at the National Bowling Stadium now is up to 15 overall through three days, with eight gold medals.
The tournament features Adult (Elite), Senior (age 50 and over) and Super Senior (age 60 and over) classifications with a men’s and women’s division for each event. Competition includes singles, doubles, mixed doubles (Super Senior only), trios (Elite and Senior only) and team disciplines, with medals also being awarded for the top scores in all-events for 24 games.
Thursday’s action featured trios and mixed doubles, with total combined pinfall for six games determining the medalists in each classification.
Team USA collected its first gold medal of the week in the women’s Elite category in a thrilling battle against Colombia. The trios team for the United States featured Shannon Pluhowsky, Lauren Russo and Stow’s Jillian Martin, and the group from Colombia included Juliana Botero, Laura Plazas and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, righty Rocio Restrepo.
Both teams ran away from the field down the stretch but remained close during the second half of the block. Colombia led by two pins after four games and 12 after five.
Team USA was able to post 699 in the final game, highlighted by a 254 from Russo, to close with a 4,156 total. Colombia still had more than a frame to go when the United States concluded Game 6, and a strong ninth frame gave them the opportunity to get to the lead.
A 6-7-10 split and open frame from Plazas in the second position put the top spot out of reach, though, as Colombia finished with 665 to claim the silver medal with 4,134.
Colombia earned a second medal in the women’s Elite field Thursday as Clara Guerrero, Juliana Franco and Maria José Rodriguez finished with bronze at 3,870.
Team USA’s second trio team – Breanna Clemmer, Crystal Elliott and Hope Gramly – finished eighth with 3,740.
Pluhowsky led the way Thursday, averaging more than 255 after rolling games of 279, 269, 248, 264, 242 and 231 for a 1,533 total. Russo finished with a score of 1,361, and Martin claimed her first medal as a member of the adult team after posting 1,262.
SENIOR WIN
The excitement in the final game continued in the men’s Senior field for Team USA as Tom Adcock, Dan Knowlton and John Janawicz fired 764 in Game 6, highlighted by a 297 game from Janawicz, to capture the gold medal in trios with a 4,022 total.
The group was up by more than 120 pins on Mexico – featuring Jose De Alba, Francisco Peralta and Mario Quintero – after four games, but some struggles in Game 5 allowed Mexico to gain 71 pins back and pull within 53 pins with one game to go.
The strikes added up for both teams in the final game, but Team USA delivered 16 strikes on 20 offerings after the fifth frame to maintain the top spot. Knowlton finished with 235, and Adcock added 232 to earn his first gold medal as part of the Team USA program.
Mexico finished Game 6 with 739 to earn the silver medal with 3,944. Puerto Rico’s team of Israel Laureano, Edgardo Ruiz and Antonio Santa claimed the bronze medal with 3,538.
Overall, Janawicz led the way for the group with a 1,464 total. Adcock posted 1,321, and Knowlton finished with 1,237. Team USA’s fourth member in the Senior division – Steve Badovinac – also bowled during the squad to contribute to his all-events tally. He rolled 1,262.
Knowlton and Adcock now have medaled in each event this week, and Janawicz earned his second visit to the podium. They finished in the top three spots in singles (Knowlton – gold, Adcock – silver, Janawicz – bronze), while Knowlton and Adcock took bronze in doubles.
In the women’s Senior classification, Team USA stayed ahead of Canada in the final game to win gold for the third consecutive day, finishing with a 3,613 total.
The group of Dana Ausec, Liz Johnson and Oregon, Ohio, righty Jodi Woessner entered Game 6 ahead of Canada’s Angie Merrick, Lana Mink and Kerrie Watson by 34 pins. Team USA was able to fill frames, highlighted by Johnson’s 224, to add onto the lead and secure victory.
Canada claimed the silver medal with 3,547, and Mexico’s trios squad – Claudia Falconi, Patricia Moreno and Veronica Hernandez – earned bronze with 3,479.
Johnson paced Team USA with a 1,305 total. Woessner finished with 1,165, and Ausec added 1,143. The group’s fourth member – Kathy Ledford – also competed during the squad to add onto her all-events score, posting 1,098.
Woessner and Johnson placed first and second in singles Tuesday, and the pairing of Johnson and Ausec won gold in doubles Wednesday. Woessner and Ledford earned a silver medal in doubles.
GOLD FOR ELITE
A big final game in the men’s Elite field helped Colombia secure the gold medal in trios with a 4,240 total at the National Bowling Stadium. Oscar Rodriguez led the way in Game 6 for Colombia with 279 and was joined by Jaime Gonzalez (247) and Alfredo Quintana (244) to close the set with 770.
Colombia entered the final game up by 14 pins over the Team USA grouping of Packy Hanrahan, Spencer Robarge and Julian Salinas. The United States claimed the silver medal with 4,139 after rolling 683 in Game 6.
Quintana led the performance for Colombia, firing 1,468. Gonzalez followed with 1,399, and Rodriguez had 1,373.
Hanrahan collected his third medal of the week and led Team USA with 1,441. Robarge had 1,417, and Salinas took home his first medal as part of the adult team with 1,281.
The bronze medal went to Mexico’s Enrique Gutierrez, Ricardo Lecuona and Sergio Villanueva with 4,074.
Team USA’s second trio squad of AJ Johnson, Jake Peters and Darren Tang finished fifth with 4,064.
Hanrahan started the week with gold in singles, and he paired with Robarge to claim the top spot in doubles Wednesday.
Team USA did not field a team for the Super Senior classification. In mixed doubles, Mexico’s Rafael Gomez and Veronica Berumen rolled to the top spot, earning the gold medal with a 2,330 total.
The team event will be contested across Friday and Saturday to close the 2024 event. The competitors in the Senior and Super Senior divisions will return to the National Bowling Stadium to roll three games Friday at noon. The athletes in the Elite classification will start their three-game block at 5 p.m. All teams will return Saturday for a final three games of competition.
The 2024 PANAM Bowling Adult, Senior and Super Senior Championships features 19 countries from within the Western Hemisphere.